What's Up?
View chords used in this chart
A Bmin D A
v v v v v v v ^ v v v v ^
The rhythm goes like this: 4 8 8 4 8 8 8 8 8 4 8 8 8 This is a little crude
but listen to the song to get the exact rhythm. There's a little more
swing to it than how I wrote it. The apostrophe represents a dotted note
(in this case, a dotted quarter note).
The first A is like this: 5-- the second A is: o--
5-- 3--
-6- 3--
--7 3--
x x
x x
The Bmin is: 2-- the D is: 2--
-3- -3-
--4 2--
--4 --4
x x
x x
The progression is easy to play if you treat them all as bar chords.
Just leave your forefinger on the second fret over strings 1,2,3,and 4
except for the second A where you have to slightly raise your finger so that
the E string is open. Slide down from the first A to the Bmin.
[Verse 1]
[A] 25 years of my life and still
[Bmin] Tryin' to to get up that great big hill of
[D] Hope, for a destination. [A]
[A] I realized quickly when I knew I should
[Bmin] That the world was made up of this brotherhood of
[D] Man, for whatever that means. [A]
{Rest of the song's chord progression is the same thing}
[Chorus]
And so I cry sometimes, when I'm lying in bed
just to get all out, what's in my head, then
I, I am feeling, a little peculiar.
And so I wake in the morning, and I step outside
And I take a deep breath, and I get real high, and
I, scream from the top of my lungs, "What's going on?"
And I say, "Hey yeah yeah hey, hey yeah yeah."
I said, "Hey, what's going on?"
And I say, "Hey yeah yeah hey, hey yeah yeah."
I said, "Hey, what's going on?"
[Verse 2]
[A] And I try, oh my god, do I try
[Bmin] I try all the [D] time, in this institution. [A]
[A] And I pray, oh my god, do I pray
[Bmin] I pray every single [D] day, for a revolution. [A]
[Chorus and last four lines of the chorus are repeated 2x more]
[Verse 3]
25 years of my life and still
Tryin' to get up that great big hill of
Hope, for a destination
How to play What's Up?
Use the controls above to change the key and text size. Follow the highlighted chords while listening, then practice each section slowly before playing at the original tempo.
What is the starting chord?
The first identified chord is A. You can transpose without leaving the page.
Can I play it on guitar or keyboard?
Yes. The chord progression works on acoustic guitar, electric guitar and keyboard. Adapt the voicings to your instrument and level.